1961 in Japan

1961 in Japan
Events in the year 1961 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 36 (昭和36年) in the Japanese calendar.
Incumbents
Emperor: Hirohito
Prime minister: Hayato Ikeda (Liberal Democratic)
Governors
Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
Aomori Prefecture: Iwao Yamazaki
Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata
Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
Fukui Prefecture: Eizō Kita
Fukuoka Prefecture: Taichi Uzaki
Fukushima Prefecture: Zenichiro Satō
Gifu Prefecture: Yukiyasu Matsuno
Gunma Prefecture: Konroku Kanda
Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroo Ōhara
Hokkaido: Kingo Machimura
Hyogo Prefecture: Masaru Sakamoto
Ibaraki Prefecture: Nirō Iwakami
Ishikawa Prefecture: Jūjitsu Taya
Iwate Prefecture: Senichi Abe
Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono
Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama
Kochi Prefecture: Masumi Mizobuchi
Kumamoto Prefecture: Kōsaku Teramoto
Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
Mie Prefecture: Satoru Tanaka
Miyagi Prefecture: Yoshio Miura
Miyazaki Prefecture: Hiroshi Kuroki
Nagano Prefecture: Gon'ichirō Nishizawa
Nagasaki Prefecture: Katsuya Sato
Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
Niigata Prefecture: Kazuo Kitamura (until 30 November); Juichiro Tsukada (starting 10 December)
Oita Prefecture: Kaoru Kinoshita
Okayama Prefecture: Yukiharu Miki
Osaka Prefecture: Gisen Satō
Saga Prefecture: Sunao Ikeda
Saitama Prefecture: Hiroshi Kurihara
Shiga Prefecture: Kyujiro Taniguchi
Shiname Prefecture: Choemon Tanabe
Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
Tochigi Prefecture: Nobuo Yokokawa
Tokushima Prefecture: Kikutaro Hara
Tokyo: Ryōtarō Azuma
Tottori Prefecture: Jirō Ishiba
Toyama Prefecture: Minoru Yoshida
Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
Yamagata Prefecture: Tōkichi Abiko
Yamaguchi Prefecture: Masayuki Hashimoto
Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano
Events
January unknown date – Credit card brand JCB was founded.
February 10 – Unicharm has founded.
June to July – After a long period of torrential rain, cliff collapses and debris flows hit the Tenryū River area, Nagano Prefecture, according to Fire and Disaster Management Agency of Japan, official confirmed report, total 357 fatalities and 1,320 were injured nationwide.
August 19 – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit the border between Fukui, Ishikawa and Gifu Prefecture, according to Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, 8 fatalities, 43 were wounded.
September 17 – A superpower typhoon Nancy hit in western Japan, a storm surge occurred in Osaka Bay area, according to Fire and Disaster Management Agency of Japan, official confirmed report, 202 people lost their lives, 4,974 people were wounded nationwide.
October 26 – An accident occurred in which a suburban train was involved in a landslide caused by torrential rain and buried in Oita to Beppu line in Oita Prefecture, according to Fire and Disaster Management Agency of Japan, official confirmed report, 31 people lost their lives and 36 people were injured.
Births
January 3 – Toshirō Yanagiba, actor
January 31 – Mako Ishino, singer and actress
February 6 – Yuko Kobayashi, voice actress
February 28 – Toshihiko Tahara, singer and actor
March 4 – Atsuko Asano, actress
March 7 – Sanae Takaichi, politician and cabinet minister
March 21 – Hiroshi Jofuku, football coach
April 26 – Hideki Kuriyama, professional baseball coach and former player
April 29 – Fumihiko Tachiki, voice actor
May 10 – Ayako Fuji, enka singer
June 7 – Kaoru Okazaki, former professional baseball player
June 17 – Kōichi Yamadera, voice actor
July 5 – Eriko Kimura, Japanese director of audiography
July 8
Kōki Mitani, screenwriter
Nobue Matsubara, enka singer
July 14 – Keiko Saito, actress
August 16 – Urara Takano, voice actress
September 21 – Yumi Takada, voice actress
October 4 – Kazuki Takahashi, manga artist and game creator (d. 2022)
October 16 – Yahiro Kazama, former football coach and player
October 20 – Michie Tomizawa, voice actress and singer
November 21 – Maria Kawamura, voice actress
December 19 – Nobuyuki Kagawa, former professional baseball player (d. 2014)
December 24 - Eriko Kitagawa, screenwriter and director
Deaths
January 16 – Roppa Furukawa, film actor (b. 1903)
July 23 – Shigeko Higashikuni, previously "Shigeko, Princess Teru", eldest child of Emperor Shōwa (b. 1925)
September 21 – Koji Uno, writer (b. 1891)
October 18 – Tsuru Aoki, actress (b. 1892)
See also
List of Japanese films of 1961
References
1960s in Japan
1961 by country
Years of the 20th century in Japan
1961 in Asia